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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

MY THOUGHTS ON THE EVENTS OF YESTERDAY:

According to the US Center for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm:)
the following causes of death were reported in the United States in 2010. (2011
figures are still preliminary)I looked
this up trying to find some perspective on yesterday’s tragic bombing in Boston.The numbers were annual numbers.Below I have divided by those figures by 365
to determine the number of DAILY deaths by cause.Here are those figures:

•Heart disease: 1,637 DAILY deaths

•Cancer: 1,574 DAILY deaths

•Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 378 DAILY deaths

•Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 354 DAILY deaths

•Accidents (unintentional injuries): 331 DAILY deaths

•Alzheimer's disease: 228 DAILY deaths

•Diabetes: 189 DAILY deaths

•Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 138 DAILY
deaths

•Influenza and Pneumonia: 137 DAILY deaths

•Intentional self-harm (suicide): 105 DAILY deaths

That means the top 10 causes of death in America account for
an average of 5,071 deaths EACH AND EVERY DAY.How many of these are completely preventable can be argued, but
accidents (331 deaths per day) and suicides (105 per day) account for nearly
440 deaths every day that some measure of prevention might curb.

What is my point?Every day Americans die at a rate larger than the total number of people
killed in the Oklahoma City Bombing, the 9-11 attacks, AND yesterday’s Boston
Marathon bombing.What happened in
Boston yesterday was tragic.The real
loss to the families of the 3 dead and the pain, suffering and possible death
of many of the wounded is human suffering at its most intense.But….and for me this is a huge BUT…as freedom
loving Americans, we simply cannot yield to the temptation to turn every one of
these events – spectacular though they are – into a reason to “throw in the
towel” on life as we know it.

I want the FBI, our Homeland Security Personnel, Massachusetts
State and Boston Officials to work tirelessly until the culprits are rooted out
and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law – be they Americans or
foreigners.But I also believe we must
do our part.For me, that is an adamant refusal
to live in fear or shrink my sense of American possibility.If tragic death is our issue, let’s do more
to reduce the number of preventable deaths each day.If we just don’t like pain and suffering,
life is going to be tough…because every day confronts us with painful realities
of family, friends and strangers near and far.

Our Founding Fathers had far more reason to be skeptical of
the independent life of a new “United States of America.”They expressed it regularly, privately and
publicly.But NEVER did they drown
themselves in self-doubt and paralyzing anxiety about the task before
them.Somehow, we seem a weaker, less
hopeful lot.And I really don’t
understand.The math doesn’t work.The realities of the random, and frankly,
infrequent nature of these senseless attacks doesn’t warrant our
hand-wringing.And, maybe most
importantly, the warp and weave of American life over 230 plus years does not
deposit at our doorstep such a legacy of despair.

Join me today.Enlist.Sign up.Be drafted!Let’s commit to pray for those individual families and lives that have
been torn by this tragedy.Let’s feel
the power of national solidarity with the citizens of Boston and all who were
in close proximity to yesterday’s event. Let’s always support resources for
those who work tirelessly to protect us at the local, state and national
level.And let’s live on…free, proud,
unfettered by fear!Fly the flag.Hum “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”Book a trip to next year’s Boston
Marathon.Stand on the street corner and
proclaim it a good day.Help support
research for heart disease, cancer, suicide prevention.But, for God’s sake, proclaim hopefulness!It is the Good News.And, for the last two centuries, it has been
the rallying cry of MOST red-blooded Americans!